Splayfoot bandage



Oct. 23, 1951 H. HORLACHER 2,572,152

SPLAYFOOT-BANDAGE Filed Jan. 9, 1950 Fig.2

3 IN vs/vron ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 23, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim. 1

The present invention is concerned with a bandage for the ball of a human foot to assist in correcting injury thereto resulting from an attack of splayfoot.

splayfoot is a Widespread disease of the feet and for the most part common among women.

There was hitherto no means for assisting in the natural reformation of the foot and as a consequence the splay caused the foot-arch to become fiat.

The deformed feet heretofore have been treated by using an arch-support with a splayfoot easer. Said splayfoot easer, however, does not allow the foot to be led back to its normal form and the foot remains wider thus provoking friction with the shoe, at the foots front sides, in the joints of the metatarsal bones to the toes. Thus nodes are formed and inflammations arise. Moreover the muscular tissue on the lower front side of the metatarsal bones remains broken up so that the bones are deprived of their padding and thus very painful inflammations as well as horny formations and corns result.

My splayfoot bandage designed according to my experience over many years is made of cotton tissue and is unyielding in the direction of the foots width thus allowing the foot to maintain its normal breadth in use. In the longitudinal direction of the foot said bandage is elastic, which is achieved for instance by shirring so as to enable it to follow the motions of the foot. The over extensions of the interosseal tendons that were caused by the formation of the splayfoot are removed by this bandage. The brokenup muscular pad remains anew under the bones and gives again its natural protection.

The foot resting upright upon the heel, measured over the forefoot bones, furnishes the normal measure for making the bandage.

An embodiment of the object of invention is In Switzerland May 23, 1949 shown, by Way of example, on the attached drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows the bandaged foot while Fig. 2 shows the unwound bandage.

The foots width measured over the forefoot bone and at the points I and 2 in Fig. 1 determines the unwound length of the ribbon. After the extremities 3 are sewn together a tube-like bandage results which, due to the rounded ends 3 and moreover due to a triangular recess 4 formed by a cut the sides of which are sewed together which is positioned so that the recess 4 will lie beside the great toe whereby the bandage will not be displaced. The band is formed from a cotton material which is elastic in the longitudinal direction of the foot, but non-extensible across the width of the foot.

What I claim is:

A bandage for the ball of a human foot to correct injuries resulting from splayfoot comprising an endless band formed for encompassing the ball of the foot, said band having a triangular recess formed therein with the sides thereof joined together and positioned for laying beside the great toe of the foot when in use and said band being formed from a flexible material which is elastic laterally of the band and non-extensible longitudinally thereof.

HEINRICH HORLACI-IER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 200,785 Woodbury Feb. 26, 1878 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 701,676 Germany Jan. 21, 1941 

